PALLIATIVE CARE FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL

That this House is aware of the findings of research conducted by the London School of Economics which demonstrated that many of the approximately 468,000 people who die each year in the UK needed palliative care during their illness, but did not receive it; notes that the report pointed out that many health professionals in the field did not actually understand or appreciate many of the different types of care or how such care could help patients; is aware that the charity Marie Curie has written to every medical and nursing director in the UK asking them to ensure appropriate staff are aware of their local palliative care teams, provide information about such staff to both patients and their families, increase palliative care to those in need of it and make support for people living with a terminal illness and their families a priority.